1994 Toyota 4Runner: Engineered For Fun

Nearly every guy who works on his own truck likes to play engineer, but few actually hold the official title that comes with years of schooling. Robert Taylor, on the other hand, is an actual engineer by trade. He is also an avid off-road enthusiast and member of the Carolina Trail Blazers. So when Robert set out to create his vision of the perfect wheeling machine there was no question that basic bolt-on components simply wouldn’t cut it.

Robert’s initial requirement list seemed easy enough: Find a vehicle that could seat five, had A/C, and did not limit his line options no matter how crazy the terrain. OK, so that last one was a biggie, but Robert had a plan. Since he would be building this rig with the help of friends and expert craftsmen he wasn’t afraid to think outside the box. With the Cummins 4BTA engine being his ideal powerplant, he set out to find a chassis worthy of the torquey diesel.

After searching for the right platform Robert decided on a ’94 Toyota 4Runner for its boxed frame and spacious interior. The next item was the massive 416 portal axles, which were plucked from a Mercedes-Benz Unimog. The Unimog axles would provide him with the strength and clearance he was looking for and fit the budget better than a set of store-bought axles. While getting everything to work together was no easy task, the result was well worth the effort.

One of the main components on Robert’s build list was the 3.9L Cummins diesel engine. Many of these turbocharged engines can be found in everyday delivery trucks across the nation. This inline-four received a handful of mods to boost its power up to 230 hp and 520 lb-ft of torque.